4th Election in 2 Years Looms for Israeli Parliament

The Israeli government is in all likelihood headed for its premature, yet not very surprising, death, as parliament prepares for a dramatic no-confidence vote set to be held Wednesday. The normally technical procedure, usually easily voted down by the coalition, seems likely to garner the required majority and pass in its first call. Several government members, including ministers and lawmakers from the Blue and White party headed by Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, have signaled they will support the opposition’s motion to dissolve the government. It seems like after six months, Gantz and his fellow party members have finally had enough with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s dillydallying on the budget. Netanyahu has offered a multitude of excuses for not passing the budget, though it remains clear even to his staunchest allies that he simply refuses to do so, knowing that once it is passed he has no way out of his rotation pact with Gantz, which requires him to hand over the throne in one year’s time. Even if the no-confidence vote does pass Wednesday in its first call, Gantz and Netanyahu will still have some time to try to square the impossible circle before heading for the fourth general election cycle in two years.